


Kiss Me and Smile for Me

by Tea_For_One_Please



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Graduation, High School, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, POV Alternating, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-01-25 04:37:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21350368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_For_One_Please/pseuds/Tea_For_One_Please
Summary: Cyrus gets an amazing opportunity - but isn't quite sure how to tell TJ about it.
Relationships: Cyrus Goodman/T. J. Kippen
Comments: 15
Kudos: 71





	1. Tell Me That You'll Wait for Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TJ smiles as he sees his friends a little way ahead, just approaching the diner from the other direction. Andi, Buffy and Jonah are laughing about something, and Cyrus is walking a pace or two behind, smiling with them, but not exactly joining in with the joke.
> 
> ***
> 
> TJ notices that Cyrus is acting a little oddly, and wonders what's wrong.

The sun is already low over the sky as TJ wanders towards the _Spoon_, even though it’s not very late – one of winter’s many failings, along with post-snowfall slush, gingerbread-flavoured coffee and the wave of seasonal affective disorder, which always seems to sweep across Grant High School after the euphoria of Shadyside’s New Year celebrations.

_There are positives, though,_ TJ thinks with a smile, as he sees his friends a little way ahead, just approaching the diner from the other direction. Andi, Buffy and Jonah are laughing about something, and Cyrus is walking a pace or two behind, smiling with them, but not exactly joining in with the joke. TJ fails to notice that this is odd, so distracted is he by how adorable Cyrus looks, bundled up in a thick coat and a matching hat and scarf. He’s still always surprised by how cute Cyrus is, even after nearly four years of dating. He gives an involuntary shiver (happiness? cold? who can tell?) and jogs the final hundred yards or so towards the entrance.

The others are just sitting down as he enters, and Buffy waves him over. Cyrus turns to look, and visibly cheers up. “Hey guys,” TJ says, leaning down to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek and smiling at the others. He takes a seat between Cyrus and Jonah, and Cyrus slips his hand into TJ’s. “You okay?” he says quietly, and Cyrus nods, giving TJ an uncertain smile. TJ doesn’t get a chance to investigate any further, though, because an unfamiliar server comes over to take their orders, distracting Cyrus.

“Two bowls of baby taters, please,” Cyrus says, “and, uh, milkshakes, guys?”

“I’ll have a hot chocolate, actually,” Andi pipes up; the server nods and jots the order down on her notepad.

“Anything else?”

“No thanks,” Buffy says with a smile. The server leaves them, and they start to catch up on the last few days. They’ve been back at school for about two weeks, and they all have news to share. Andi gushes excitedly about the new projects she’s been working on. Buffy and TJ wax lyrical about their respective basketball teams. Jonah announces that he’s decided to finally go back into baseball when the season starts, an announcement that’s met with a mixture of support and amusement. “You left it until the final semester of senior year?” Buffy says.

“Better late than never,” Jonah says earnestly.

“Too right,” says Andi, halfway through folding a paper napkin into a swan. “Go for it!”

“Thanks, Andiman,” Jonah smiles, sticking his tongue out at Buffy, who makes a face in return. “Cyrus? Any news?”

Cyrus thinks for a minute. “No,” he says simply, before turning to TJ. “Tell them what you got on your math midterm.” TJ blushes, despite his concern for Cyrus’ uncharacteristic quietness.

“Ooh, yeah, tell us,” Buffy chimes in, Cyrus’ odd behaviour promptly forgotten.

“B-minus,” he says shyly. Buffy beams, and Andi looks up from her swan in amazement.

“TJ? That’s incredible!”

“Th… thanks,” he says, pleased but embarrassed. He’s saved any further elaboration by the return of their server with their comfort food. Cyrus squeezes TJ’s hand and leans against him. As nice as the contact is, TJ can’t help but feel uneasy.

It’s about an hour and a half later when they realise it’s now completely dark, and that they should probably be going home. TJ and Cyrus say goodbye to the others, before wandering down the road hand-in-hand.

“So,” TJ says.

“So,” Cyrus echoes, swinging their hands.

“You’ve been quiet today,” he remarks. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”

The familiar phrasing makes Cyrus sigh. “Yeah,” he says reluctantly, and TJ feels his heart sink. He was so hoping that he was wrong. “Do you remember,” Cyrus continues, “how I applied for a few summer internships over winter break?”

“Yeah, of course,” TJ smiles. “I proofread your résumé like fifty times. Did you hear back from them?”

“A few,” Cyrus nods. “Mostly saying ‘thanks, but no thanks’.”

“I’m sorry,” TJ says, stroking the back of Cyrus’ hand with his thumb sympathetically.

“But one was different,” Cyrus goes on, sounding more and more anxious with every passing word. “I didn’t tell you, and I should have, so I’m sorry.”

“Tell me what?”

“Well, I did an interview with them over videochat, and it went really well.”

“Cyrus,” TJ says, trying desperately to conceal his nervousness. “Tell me what?”

“It’s in Paris,” Cyrus says, slowing to a stop and turning TJ to look at him.

“Oh.”

“And they said they want me to come for a full year.” By now Cyrus looks like he’s almost on the verge of tears; he bites his lip and looks away from TJ, staying silent as TJ tries to process this. He’s sure he should speak, but no words are forming in his mind. “Say something,” Cyrus pleads.

“I…” TJ’s still struggling. “Do you want to go?”

“I already accepted,” Cyrus says, and just like that, TJ’s world shatters. “I’m sorry, I should have talked to you about it first, I just… got caught up in the moment. I haven’t told the others yet either, ‘cause I wanted to tell you first, and…”

“It’s okay,” TJ says, more gently than he expected.

“It’s just, it’s a really good opportunity,” Cyrus says. He’s starting to babble; TJ knows this move. “It’s in a really high-profile office in the centre of the city, and the company owns an apartment above the office. They said I could live there, and work in place of rent, and it’d be great on my résumé, but I don’t want to leave you, and the others, and I’m sorry I waited so long to tell you about it, and, and…” He runs out of steam, and tears start to run down his face. TJ pulls him close, and feels him sob against his coat.

“Cyrus,” he whispers soothingly. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” says Cyrus’ muffled voice. He pulls away and wipes his eyes. “Because a year is a long time, and I don’t want to ask you to wait for me, especially since you’re going to college, but I don’t want us to break up, either, and…” TJ presses a finger to Cyrus’ lips to stop him, and lifts his chin so he can look into his pretty brown eyes, flickering with umber, bronze and gold in the security lamp of the store they’ve halted beside.

“I’ll wait for you,” he says quietly. “And I know,” he adds, before Cyrus can interject, “you don’t want to ask me to wait for you, and you haven’t.” Cyrus frowns. “This is me, _choosing_ to wait for you.” Cyrus blinks and offers a watery smile.

“Really?”

“Of course,” TJ says, leaning down to kiss him.

* * *

Six months pass all too quickly, and soon TJ is walking numbly down the airport corridor, unable to accept that the day has finally come. He’s trying to stay cheerful, because he knows Cyrus is terrified, but he’s not sure how well he’s doing. He feels Cyrus intertwine his fingers with his own, and he’s shaken out of his reverie as he looks into the earnest face of his boyfriend.

“Hey,” Cyrus says with a grin.

“Hi,” TJ says, his voice thicker than he’d like. He clears his throat before speaking again. “You ready?”

“No,” Cyrus admits, and TJ smiles.

“Yeah, you are.” He wraps his arms around Cyrus, squeezing him tightly and pressing a kiss to the top of his head, then his forehead, then his lips. “Love you,” he murmurs. “Have an amazing time.”

“I love you too,” Cyrus says softly. Security checks stand ahead of them, and Cyrus glances at his watch. “I have to go.”

“_Au revoir_,” TJ says with a short laugh.

“_À prochain,_” Cyrus says, smiling bravely. TJ tilts his head questioningly. “Until the next time.”

“_À prochain_,” TJ repeats, in a questionable accent which makes Cyrus laugh.

TJ closes his eyes as he feels Cyrus’ lips on his own once more, then he sees Cyrus’ retreating figure, heading for the glass doors at the end of the hallway. He raises a hand in a parting wave when Cyrus looks back at the doors and offers a wave of his own, letting it drop as Cyrus turns away and disappears.


	2. The Dawn is Breaking, It's Early Morn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A typical morning in Cyrus' new life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to carry this on. But I felt like writing something short and sweet, and there was demand for it, so... here's another chapter. And I've planned another two. Whoops.
> 
> ANYWAY I hope you enjoy. This one's a little more fun and fluffy than the first one. I hope it's obvious at which point French is being spoken! (N.B. Cyrus' dialogue is supposed to sound a little stilted to represent the fact that his French isn't fluent!)

Cyrus lets out a soft groan as he flicks his alarm to snooze. He’s had another bad night: anyone would think he’d be used to the sounds of the city by now, having been in Paris for a little over two months, but it’s so much louder than Shadyside, and he still can’t drown out the noise. He’s tried almost everything, short of sleeping with his pillow on his head (although he’s tired enough to seriously consider it more than once).

Despite his lack of sleep, though, he must admit he’s having the time of his life. The work is fun, even though he’s effectively just an intern – filing, photocopying, preparing coffee and making lunch runs fill most of his day. It’s not so bad, though: he’s noticed the office staff have started giving him more responsibilities of late. They even let him man the phones for a day last week, just to see how he got on.

Now though, Cyrus stands and stretches, blinking at the sunlight which is barely contained by the thin curtains covering the windows. Yawning, he reaches for the t-shirt he discarded in the night – it might be early October, but the weather’s still far more temperate than what he’s used to. Now, though, he gives an involuntary shiver as he crosses the room to make himself some coffee. It’s really grown on him, helped by the fact that American coffee is awful by comparison. As he’s pouring the grounds into the machine, though, his phone starts to buzz from where he left it on the nightstand. He tuts: he forgot to turn off the alarm properly.

As he picks it up, however, he sees it’s a videocall, with a very familiar face filling the screen. He smiles and sweeps his unstyled hair off his forehead before swiping the green button.

“Hey, you,” he says, clearing his throat as he hears how rough his voice is. “Bit late, isn’t it?”

“It’s just gone eleven,” TJ scoffs. “That’s like, dinnertime for students.” Cyrus laughs as he returns to his coffee machine. “How are you? How was yesterday?”

“I’m good,” Cyrus replies, stifling a yawn. “And yesterday went alright. There was a stupid American client on the phone and none of the staff could make him understand, so I took the call.”

“You’re going up in the world,” TJ says admiringly. “You’ll be the manager before you know it.”

“Give over,” Cyrus mutters with a low chuckle. “I miss you though. And the others, of course,” he adds.

“Yeah, we miss you too,” TJ says. “_I_ miss you too.”

“So how’s college life? Have you actually attended any classes yet or have you been too busy partying with Marty and Jonah?”

“You’re so rude!” TJ pouts, making Cyrus laugh. “I’ve only missed, like, one class. Unlike Marty, who’s only _been_ to one.”

“You’re kidding right?”

“I’m overstating it, yeah. It’s not quite that bad.”

“Good,” says Cyrus, relieved. “I can’t imagine Buffy letting him fail.” TJ bites his lip. “What?”

“Oh, it’s just they’ve been having some issues,” he says, looking away from the camera, clearly a little uncomfortable. “It’s not my business, I’m sure Buffy’ll tell you.”

“They’ll work it out. They always do.”

“Of course,” TJ says confidently. “So apart from your stupid American client, what else is new in Paris?” he asks, exaggerating a bad French accent on the final word. Cyrus rolls his eyes.

“Not much,” Cyrus shrugs, pouring the coffee into a chipped mug. “I’m a bit bored, to be honest. Not with the internship,” he adds hastily, seeing the alarm in TJ’s face. “I’m still enjoying that. It’s just when I finish for the day, I don’t have anything else to do, so I just come back to the apartment and, like, watch Netflix documentaries.”

“Isn’t that what you did back home?”

Cyrus scowls. “Funny.”

“Sorry.”

“I mean it, Teej, I miss having friends my own age. How do you meet people in my situation?”

“I don’t know,” TJ says thoughtfully. “There must be some people in Paris who speak English.”

“It’s not necessarily that I want to speak English, though,” Cyrus says, sinking back onto his bed and sipping his coffee. He’ll probably be late, but his colleagues think TJ is adorable, so he can blame it on him. “I just want to speak to _someone_.”

“Okay, this might sound crazy,” TJ says, and Cyrus recognises the brightening in his eyes – he’s had an idea, and a good one. “I bet Paris has loads of colleges. Why not go there, explain your situation and see if there’s any societies or anything you can join?”

“They probably wouldn’t let me,” Cyrus says, considering it. “I’m not a student.”

“Perhaps not,” TJ says reasonably, “but I bet they get loads of foreigners who come to the city to work for a year, so they might have a separate program or something. You don’t know until you ask.”

“I guess not,” Cyrus says a little more cheerfully. “I’ll look into it. Now tell me about your wild college parties.”

“They’re not _that_ wild,” TJ laughs, but nonetheless launches into a saga spanning several minutes until Cyrus glances at the clock on the wall.

“Shoot, I’m late.”

“Oh, okay,” TJ says, grinding to a halt.

“I’m sorry,” Cyrus says mournfully. “Call again tomorrow?” TJ nods.

“Sure. I love you, Cyrus.”

“Love you too. Maybe go to bed before midnight for a change.” TJ laughs and offers him a wave before hanging up. Cyrus dresses in a hurry, opting for a vest but deciding against a jacket. It’s a decent look, he thinks as he surveys himself in the mirror. He considers a hat, before remembering that he’s late, hastily looping his satchel over his shoulder and hurrying out of the door.

“_Sorry I’m late,_” he pants, in competent French, as he hurries into the office. One flight of stairs and he’s worn out; he really needs to get better at this whole ‘fitness’ thing. “_I was talking with my boyfriend._”

“_It’s alright_,” M. Dubois smiles, rolling his eyes. “_You’re only ten minutes late. Can you make some coffee?_”

“_Of course_,” Cyrus nods, heading over to the kitchenette at the far end of the office. He’s just putting M. Dubois’ coffee in front of him when his stomach lets out an incriminating grumble. M. Dubois gives him a stern look.

“_Did you have breakfast this morning?_”

“_No_,” Cyrus admits, and M. Dubois swats at his head.

“_You’re lucky I like you. Go on._”

“_Thank you_,” Cyrus says, a little sheepishly. On his way out he passes one of the accountants, a tiny old lady, who raises an eyebrow at his departure.

“_Are you leaving us already, my boy?_” she asks fondly.

“_No, Madame Gilet,_” Cyrus chuckles. “_I’m going to buy some breakfast. I’m going to come back._”

“_Oh, good_,” she says with a quiet smile, patting him on the arm. “_Can you also buy me a pain au raisin? I’ll pay you back.”_ Cyrus nods vaguely, having completely failed to interpret the meaning of her last sentence, but he understood her initial request well enough.

“_Back in a bit!_” he calls on his way out.

On his way over to the bakery-patisserie, he reflects on his somewhat bizarre life. He’s living in Paris, working as an intern at a company which, frankly, he has yet to work out the purpose of, buying breakfast for himself and the sweet old lady who sits at the desk opposite him. This morning, just after he woke up, he spoke to his boyfriend, who had not even gone to bed. _Imagine_, he muses, _being able to go back in time and tell myself any of that five years ago. I’d have thought I was insane._

He suddenly remembers that this year is five years since he met TJ, and feels a pang of sadness and guilt that they won’t be able to share it together. He realises suddenly that he’s walking down the middle of the sidewalk, rather than at the edge – almost as though he was leaving space for someone who should be there with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone's interested, I have an alternate version of the French-spoken paragraph in actual French. After all, what's the point in studying for a French degree if I can't use it in fanfic? (*cries in French sleep deprivation*)

**Author's Note:**

> This was not beta-ed, not planned, not proofread; I simply wrote this because I couldn't sleep and needed to do something until I felt tired. Didn't actually expect to do it all in one hit.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! If so, please leave a comment saying what you liked, or else hit me up on Tumblr (@tea-for-one-please) and drop me an ask or a message, I'm friendly :)


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